Seattle is The Fourth Best Real Estate Market In The Country For 2016

Seattle's supercharged market for everything from skyscrapers to single-family houses is expected to keep booming next year, even with higher interest rates.

  Metro Seattle ranks fourth nationally as the hottest market to watch for 2016, according to the influential Emerging Trends in Real Estate survey by theUrban Land Institute.

  This marks a rise from No. 8 in last year’s report. Emerging Trends has proved to be a good barometer of Seattle’s real-estate prospects.

  “The Seattle market has become so popular with domestic and global investors that in interviews it is not unusual for it to be added to the list of top six markets,” the report states. Among our strengths is a diverse industry base and growth in so-called TAMI sectors (technology, advertising, media and information).

  “One interviewee noted that Seattle is one of those markets where the growth has been strong enough, long enough, that the only potential risk is being able to sustain its current pace,” according to the report.

  The outlook for every real-estate sector in Seattle except hotels is strong. Hotels come off “good,” but not as robust as other sectors. Population growth and constraints on supply make Seattle inviting for single-family house construction.

  Seattle also benefits from its appeal to millennials, as well as being an “18-hour city,” vibrant live-work-play urban areas that are attracting more people and investment, doing better economically, than sprawly places lacking an energetic center.

  Nationally, real estate is expected to continue growing, even with interest rates going up. Foreign investment remains strong. The report’s top three are Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and Charlotte. Seattle is followed by Atlanta, Denver, Nashville, San Francisco, Portland and Los Angeles to round out the top 10 best markets.

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